115 replies to this topic

[Pvt Dancer]

I didn't want to start another tangent on the latest 'tech' thread. From what I understand, all tech will be available to free players and all mech chassis will be available to all players. What is left to make money off of?

Mech bays for one... this is the standard 'character slot' expansion you can do for most games. I can easily see this costing money if you want to have several different mechs beyond the 1-3 bays you may start with.

Pilots might be a way to make money. Much like WoT's crews (free starts out at 50%, cost in-game money to start at 75%, real money to start at 100%), I could see a similar scale.

Premium Accounts are a sure fire way. I think this is a great design by WoTs, offering you multiple lengths of Premium (1 day, 3 days, 1 week, ect). I would actually like to see 1 hour, 3 hour, and 6 hour lengths. In WoTs, your first win is at x2 Money, research, experience, ect. If you keep playing, free players make 50% less than Premium players. I think this system is a great system as Free players just progress more slowly than Premium.

After that, I am not sure what else they can really sell us. Thoughts?

[CoffiNail]

Money is spent on getting a mech quicker, you can save those cbills and buy it ingame or purchase it with real money. Mech Bay slots will probably be one like you thought, cosmetic items/skins and such... Who knows what.

I do no one thing that you cannot buy, something that lets you skip skill and win.

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

Pvt Dancer, on 29 March 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Premium Accounts are a sure fire way. I think this is a great design by WoTs, offering you multiple lengths of Premium (1 day, 3 days, 1 week, ect). I would actually like to see 1 hour, 3 hour, and 6 hour lengths. In WoTs, your first win is at x2 Money, research, experience, ect. If you keep playing, free players make 50% less than Premium players. I think this system is a great system as Free players just progress more slowly than Premium.

Sounds like a bad idea. That really gets close to "buying power" which is something the team really wants to avoid at all costs and for good reason. It will make those who do not have such accounts feel inadequate in having to work even harder to keep up with someone who did shell out money.

Its a little different than just shelling out money at one go to purchase a new 'mech as opposing to blatantly earning x amount more money or xp every game.

Edited by mwhighlander, 29 March 2012 - 11:43 AM.

[verybad]

I'm expecting higher tech equipment and weapons, new mechs, cosmetics, and possibly mechlab additions. Also possibly variants on your mechs (with different hardpoint structures)

Basically everything. I'm not considering this a problem however. AAA games start at ~$50.00 now, this will be available for free, so it will probably get you quite a lot of nice stuff just making it up to $50.00.

I expect the developers will make it easy for us to spend money, there's nothing wrong with that. You'll be able to compete without spending a nickel, though some things will certainly take quite a long time to acquire for free. If you want more toys, it's up to you, inevitably there will be people complaining that it's P2W, no matter what structure. That's more likely people complaining that they didn't get more free stuff.

It's a company that has to make a profit in order to keep it's employees employed. This is a very expensive situation, so it has to have a good sale system for DLC, and sell lots of DLC or it fire's people or even goes out of business.

So there will probably be a free starter mech, with free starter weapons, but things like fater repairs, more equipment, mroe mechs, cosmetic "bling", and more will take a LOT of grinding, or take money in order to get in a reasonable (for most people) time.

Doesn't mean you have to buy every toy out there. Jsut get the stuff you want and have fun.

[80sGlamRockSensation David Bowie]

^Agrees

I'll more than willingly pay out some extra $$ to get a unique paint job, some insignias or perhaps get myself a custom variant faster and start really enjoying the game at the get-go. There's nothing wrong with not having enough C-Bills and paying for that new 'mech you want to have it a few days faster.

Does that mean I'll be necessarily skilled or even good with that new variant? No. Does that really give me an edge over a non-paying player? Maybe for a day(?), before the non-paying player simply earns it! Does it make me stand out a bit amongst the more generic paint schemes and influence others to spend a little money to get some pizazz and support the game? Definitely.

[Rambo Calrissian]

verybad, on 29 March 2012 - 11:57 AM, said:

I'm expecting higher tech equipment and weapons, new mechs, cosmetics, and possibly mechlab additions. Also possibly variants on your mechs (with different hardpoint structures)

Then it wouldn't really be a free2play title.
Also they would lose millions of potential players by doing that.

I'm glad, that in one interview the devs said:
"You won't be able to buy your dominance on the battle field."

There will be (to purchase):
- skins and similar "prestige" stuff
- faster leveling/progress

Dunno what else will come, but those things are for sure.

verybad, on 29 March 2012 - 11:57 AM, said:

It's a company that has to make a profit in order to keep it's employees employed. This is a very expensive situation, so it has to have a good sale system for DLC, and sell lots of DLC or it fire's people or even goes out of business.

You should really educate yourself on the topic of free2play games, and what is popular/successful.
You don't need to milk every single player to the fullest, if you just have a big enough user base.
By forcing players to buy stuff to even be able to compete, the game would be much less popular and most likely in the end generate much less money.

If I really like the game, I will definetly invest some money in skins (if they're good). I might even buy XP boosts.
If I HAD to pay to get the good equipment, I wouldn't even start playing (same goes for millions of other players).

Edited by Rambo Calrissian, 29 March 2012 - 12:43 PM.

[Opus]

[Joeseph Pierce]

I honestly think you should be able to buy ONE of any mech in ANY configuration at the beginning with your starting c-bills, but not much more... ESPECIALLY not another mech. I think that everyone should have a nice selection of mechs to start out with so that they can truly fulfill their goal, then they can focus on other roles with another mech. i don't like the idea where you would have to start out with a light mech and then work your way up to the mech of your choosing. but i would pay for custom skins!

[AlanEsh]

MWO Devs can take all the ideas they want from WoT, aside from "Gold Ammo" and the overall pricing scheme. They set a new low in "diminishing returns" for cripes sake.

Pvt Dancer, on 29 March 2012 - 11:26 AM, said:

Premium Accounts...

The advancement rates for standard accounts beyond about Tier III are HORRIBLE. Let us hope MWO doesn't penalize Standard Account players as much as Wargaming does.

Edited by Angelicon, 29 March 2012 - 01:30 PM.

[Opus]

Aegis Kleais™, on 29 March 2012 - 01:17 PM, said:

I'd rather you just be able to BUY your conveniences,

Hula Girl: $1.99
Fuzzy Dice: $1.99
Death to Paul HUD Display: $ F'ing Priceless

[Konka]

Best would be, buy the game and have full acces to all stuff with UPDATES. Rest is dependent on pilots skills they really have. I have seen what money = power can make in network games. Those games are long dead now or are dying out relly fast. You get your free stuff in start but once you figure out that you cant compete top levels(without paying more and more) gamers WILL abandon the game. Free players have no change to compete on top levels, never ever in such set up. I would pay even 50 euros for this game if I could get all the rings and bells with it, updates etc. included. If this will be another pay to gain power, I will boycot this game for sure even how cool it would look like and how well it performs technically, piloting in other words. How mech responds to player commands. Put price tag 49,90 on it without further payments and you have a quaranteed pilot here. Later expansions could be priced too depending on content. Acces to 15 Clan mechs with 19,90. Same with IS later era mechs, so called IS mech pack what was used in MW4. Same price or what ever depending on the work load by staff. There, you have it. Another story of great success. But to pay for to be more faster or accurate? Gimme a break. All mechs have thier standards. 300XL enginge SHOULD NOT take your 90 tonns *** any faster to the field by any means. It will corrupt the game if paying makes you "better." And no, you cant put ******* 500XL enging insdie all that freaking endo stell and ferro fibrous without LOOSING some other things, heat sinks, armor, weapons or ammunition. Jesus....

- Konks

[Konka]

Question. What will be the channels how we pay then? Is it Paypall, Visa, something that ALL can have their payments, even from europe. Direct money transfer through web bank? The tool?

[Shai tan]

I just hope this thing is SIMPLE. Take BF 3 for example. I could care less about perks attaining. And stats. When I think of this stuff while just perusing the Kits etc, my eyes glaze over, and interest is lost. I play for immersion, and fun. And minute detail stuff just is not interesting. For me it has to be fairly simple in those areas.

[Tremble Wolf]

I agree.

No matter what though, from what they say it will be "balanced".
Mechbay slots, weapons, idk, most importantly they need to get this out soon.

I'm not really clear on the dynamics of game play, but perhaps there could be paid-for privaliges such as faster/cheaper repairs, access to a "black-market" for members. Maybe there will be premium stores and vendors, I'm still unclear on those aspects of the game.

[DarkBazerker]

Things i would pay my hard earned money for would be stuff like
maps
more space to store mechs
custom paint job
hula girl
ablitly to make matches
thermal or night vision
a merc/house hangout where you can walk around and talk to your friends (client view gets old really fast)

[Five by Five]

I have a very simple concept for the price (probably not the one they're going with but,...)
1) Penny pricing, everything is really cheap, just pennies,... maybe a dollar or a couple of dollars for big ticket items.
2) Everything is salvagable if it is not destroyed and everything is destroyable (and consumable... think ammo and coolant).
3) Everything (but skill points and loyalty points) costs money. Ammo, weapons, armor, eletronic commponents, coolant, repair, storage, tansport ... etc. All cost, but they only cost pennies! (Maybe a dollar or two for mechs). And if your mech is destroyed, buy another.
4) House pilots get paid by the House for piloting and the House covers all their expenses. As they earn loyalty points from the house, they can use those to upgrade their mech and equipment, but the house will always provide them with at least the House standard mech for the class they want to pilot. Also as their rank increases they get more choices in mechs, variants, and customization (actually base pay should cover a lot of customization). The house also gets to keep all the salvage a house pilot earns.
5) House Noble men spend money to outfit their mech(s) (and maybe even their lance).
6) Lonewolfs own their own mech(s) (own as many mechs as they want to buy) and basically are contractors to Houses (maybe able to contract with merc units also). They get paid and get to keep their salvage, but they also have to cover alot of their own expenses. (Maybe a House pilot that reaches a certain level in a House can 'cash out' his retirment to get started as a Lonewolf with minimal (no) investment).
7) Merc units get to determine the allocation of their own resources. Merc units get paid by the Houses, get to keep their salvage, and individual mercs can invest into the unit (depending on the unit they may invest into the unit and/or into their own equipment).
8) Again,... all things are destroyable and potentially salvagable. Lose your mech but your team wins, you get to salvage your mech (unless it was completely destroyed). Lose your mech but your team loses the field, you lose your mech. A buck or two gets you a new one, or your House (or merc unit depending on the particular unit's rules) assigns you another mech. Your team loses the field, but you withdraw, hey you get to keep your mech!

-- I really like that last part. There has rarely been a reason to retreat in a previous mechwarrior game. The prospect of losing versus keeping your customized mech really introduces a new dynamic.

-- I also like the fact that Merc units can charge member dues, but could also recruit good pilots by offering to outfit them at no expense to the pilot and waiving dues, or that pilots could invest in their merc unit and maybe earn profit along with pay.

9) Practice matches (mech sims) and sparing/training matches, unlimited choice of equipment and no cost (also of course no gain). These are an absolute must for teams.

Basically several avenues to play for free and advance to the best equipment. Skill points never bought. And for the guys that do spend money,.... a full evening of mechwarrior shouldn't cost that much, heck, many nights a player should even come out ahead, just like Vegas, the house always make money, but every day some individuals come out ahead and others don't. That's good incentive for folks to try to spend a little money and make it as a merc or lonewolf! Of course, any winnings you have can only be reinvested into the game!

Edited by five by five, 29 March 2012 - 04:10 PM.

[Nick Makiaveli]

mwhighlander, on 29 March 2012 - 11:42 AM, said:

Sounds like a bad idea. That really gets close to "buying power" which is something the team really wants to avoid at all costs and for good reason. It will make those who do not have such accounts feel inadequate in having to work even harder to keep up with someone who did shell out money.

Its a little different than just shelling out money at one go to purchase a new 'mech as opposing to blatantly earning x amount more money or xp every game.

Isn't this just speeding up progression? Which is something they have said they will likely include?

[Orzorn]

It will be exactly like League of Legends, basically. It will NOT be like World of Tanks, which had premium ammo and stuff like that.

The easiest solution is to read up on League of Legends' business model. Seriously. If you have a question, go look up how League did it, because that model is good, it works, and it practically invented the fair, well priced western gaming free to play model.

[Graefin Zeppelin]

Everytime you hit the button to avoid shutdown you will be charged 10 bucks ^^

[StandingCow]

Personally I hope they take the world of tanks way of doing things, seems really fair and you don't really buy power.